I walk

I walk

I walk
I know it doesn’t look like it
and myself I don’t always believe it
but I walk.
It’s slow, it’s clumsy,
& there’s pain most of the time.

When I wake up in the morning I ask myself
« how far can I go today ? » 
When my mood is dark as a stormy sky,
I roll my eyes and scare myself :
« will I ever walk normally again ? »

might sound obvious to the wisest
but for me it’s a bit of a hocus pocus
‘cause you have no idea how it’s precious
until you’ve lost it
until you’re stuck
with you
yourself
and I,
all day long bloody-so-long

I don’t run I don’t jump I don’t swim
I can’t dance I can’t sit I can’t stand still to watch through the star-lit
night
I’ve learnt to walk slower than all of you together
slower than my dad when he’s working undercover
slower than the oldies who like to take me over
for once they can beat someone so much younger

I decided that I’d just let it be
and struggle less and less with good old philosophy
I’ve even embraced slowness as a lesson for a blessed lesser-life
‘cause I might walk slow
but I walk

I take the power of the word
to the power of the walk
the power of the walk
to the power of the word

I take the power of the word
to the power of the walk
the power of the walk
to the power of the word

walk your words baby
you get to choose your own pace

I walk
I merely need to say it, enough to feel like I walk
so I do it a lot, over and over
I test it in each language I know
je marche, ich gehe, merg, cammino, nothing works as well as
I walk
I hush it like a pagan prayer
silently shout it like it’s my last hour

I dream
I dream of all the walks that could come live again if I gave them
once
or twice
an existence through sound.
I dream that
I’m tiny
I walk at the top of your head, on the back of your hand,
on the tip of your toes I nearly fall
you can’t see me I’m too tiny
but I’m all around,
here, there,
here now, there again,
woops, sorry, that’s your nose,
I swear I was heading to your toes
sometimes I’m unsure where to walk
I just walk

then I’m huge
I walk from planet to planet, one planet a step
I’m so huge no one can notice that I walk
and why is no more a question
My pace is of a long-headed giant
bent forward, thin,
careful not to tread on a life, two, or maybe a million
during one of my intergalactic hiccups
and while I walk
the sun holds in my hand and the moon is at my ear
singing songs that I’m not about to forget
not as long as I walk

I take the power of the word
to the power of the walk
the power of the walk
to the power of the word

I take the power of the word
to the power of the walk
the power of the walk
to the power of the word

walk your words baby
you get to choose your own pace

I’m old
My very first stick now hangs on the wall
next to the more recent ones, the modern ones – I swear I love them all,
vivid memory of an agitated youth
I go faster than the old ladies now
« Girls, I have many years of practice! no need to try and beat me »
I walk faster and faster
towards my own death
hoping they won’t shoot me
like that poor dying deer
who couldn’t walk anymore

now I run
I run to you like Kevin Costner to Whitney Houston on that famous tarmac
or through the blooming fields without watching where I run
I run like I’ve never stopped running and it’s just for fun
I wish you could see me mum: I run better than I’ve ever walked
see how I’ve learnt your lesson, mum, how much I fought?
look, I’m like them now, I’m invisible
I run now, I’m invincible.

I take the power of the word
to the power of the walk
the power of the walk
to the power of the word

I take the power of the word
to the power of the walk
the power of the walk
to the power of the word

walk your words baby
you get to choose your own pace